U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, a co-sponsor of the bill, shot back swiftly in response.

“We should expect nothing less than this from a man who lies for a living. But this lie is especially egregious because it threatens the very existence of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe that welcomed the Pilgrims to these shores. This is dangerous (once again) & racist (once again),” Kennedy tweeted at 12:07 p.m. Wednesday.

Mayor Tom Hoye said he was disappointed by Trump’s tweet.

“I’m kind of speechless. This whole ordeal has just become sad. That’s the president of the United States tweeting about a sitting U.S. senator. It’s unprecedented,” Hoye said.

Hoye said the casino would serve as an economic engine for the region.

“It’s another slap in the face to Southeastern Massachusetts,” Hoye said of the president’s tweet.

But attorney David Tennant, who represents the group of East Taunton residents who successfully challenged the Department of the Interior’s decision to take the casino land in trust on behalf of the tribe, said Trump’s tweet was spot on.

Tennant re-tweeted the president and replied to @realDonaldTrump at 1:01 p.m. Wednesday, “Thank you for recognizing the rule of law.”

Tennant said the president’s tweet is a strong indication Trump would veto the bill should it land on his desk.

“I think it’s a fair statement that the president is opposed to special legislation favoring a single tribe that doesn’t qualify under the law,” Tennant said.

Trump’s tweet seemed to have immediate consequences.

Lawmakers had originally scheduled the bill for a full vote by the House Wednesday.

It had been fast-tracked under a suspension of the rules for so-called noncontroversial bills, requiring a two-thirds majority for passage, according to the Cape Cod Times.

But following Trump’s tweet the bill suddenly didn’t seem so noncontroversial and lawmakers pulled it from the House floor and now plan to move the bill through the regular process, according to a source, the Cape Cod Times reported.

The legislation is the latest chapter in the Taunton casino saga spanning many years.

Having land taken into trust is a big deal because it is a prerequisite for building a tribal casino, which is exempt from many fees and taxes by virtue of being on sovereign land.

In 2015, the Department of the Interior took land into trust on behalf of the tribe in Mashpee and the casino site in Taunton. And in April of 2016, the tribe broke ground on the casino amid much fanfare, and demolition got underway.

But just three months later, in July 2016, a U.S. District Court judge sided with the East Taunton residents who said the Department of the Interior had overstepped its authority when it took the land into trust because the tribe was not under federal jurisdiction in 1934 at the time the Indian Reorganization Act was enacted.

The case was remanded back to Interior, which in September 2018 ultimately announced it could not keep the land in trust for the tribe.

At that point, after having apparently hit a wall with the executive and judicial branches of government, the tribe shifted its focus to the only remaining option, the legislative branch.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. William Keating, D. Mass., “reaffirms the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe reservation as trust land in Massachusetts. In addition, the bill requires actions, including actions pending in federal court, relating to the land to be dismissed.”

An uphill battle on Capitol Hill

Bridgewater State University Political Science Associate Professor Brian Frederick said the bill faces a steep uphill battle even without Trump’s tweet.

The legislation might well have enough support in the Democratically controlled House, Frederick said.

But in the Senate, which is in Republican hands, the odds seem slim, he said.

Historically, Democrats are more supportive of tribal casinos on economic justice grounds than Republicans – though some Republicans support them as an entrepreneurial solution that’s preferable to direct government assistance, he said.

“Even if it should miraculously pass the Senate, the president has made it clear he will veto it,” Frederick said.

Then there’s the Elizabeth Warren factor. At this point her support of the bill appears to be a downright liability, Frederick said.

Not only is she one of the last people Trump or many other Republicans would like to hand a political victory to, but Warren — who is a Democratic candidate for president in 2020 — has covered herself in controversy on the very issue of her own claims to Native American heritage, prompting Trump to repeatedly taunt her as “Pocahontas,” as he did in Wednesday’s casino tweet.

Trump’s use of that term has been widely referred to as a racial slur.

But Frederick said many of Trump’s supporters don’t see it that way.

“They feel he’s rebelling against the politically correct culture they despise. They don’t see it as racist. They see it as holding someone accountable who has engaged in hypocrisy,” Frederick said.

Trump weighs in on tribal casinos

Then there are Trump’s longstanding objections to tribal casinos, Frederick said.

“Trump has seen them as competitors, as a threat to his own personal economic well-being,” Frederick said.

Trump is in the unusual position as an incoming president of having owned some high-profile commercial casinos himself over the years. And he has not been silent on the subject of tribal casinos.

“I love to compete but I like to compete on an equal footing. I’m competing and paying hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes… My so-called opponent is competing and paying no tax,” Trump said while testifying before Congress regarding tribal casinos in 1993, according to a recording of the hearing.

During that same testimony he said regarding Native Americans involved in gaming: “They don’t look like Indians to me.”

But, as the Washington Post reported, Trump on this issue sometimes seems to contradict himself.

He has over the years tried to strike deals with Native Americans to manage tribal casinos on their behalf.

A casino – and city – in limbo

Hoye said, if the Taunton tribal casino never comes to fruition, it’s not the end of the world for Taunton.

“Thank goodness we’re not a one-trick pony. Our economic development efforts have been extremely successful at Myles Standish Industrial Park,” he said.

But the casino would mean 2,000 jobs and about $15 million a year to Taunton. And having the project languish in limbo is a blow to the city, he said.

“What sometimes gets lost is that this (a tribal casino) was the only path provided to Southeastern Massachusetts under the expanding gaming law in 2011. It wasn’t like we could say, ‘Let’s pursue a commercial option,’” Hoye said.

2020 vision

Hoye said it is still possible that a tribal casino will become a reality in Taunton.

If Democrats take the White House and Senate in 2020, that could make a difference, he said.

Frederick said that scenario would certainly increase the likelihood of passage. But even then, the bill might stall if the Democrats don’t have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.

And even if it were to be enacted into law, Tennant said it would face a swift legal challenge.

“Congress can’t just say, ‘We’re going to change the outcome in a particular case,’” Tennant said in January.

The bill represents an “usurpation” of the judicial function by Congress and is a violation of the separation of powers under the U.S. Constitution, Tennant said.

Whether or not that legal argument would prevail, it “just adds another hurdle on top of the already difficult legal path and political path,” Frederick said.

Michelle Littlefield, lead plaintiff in the case challenging the land in trust, said Wednesday, she was “a little concerned about President Trump's tweet because this isn't about politics or creating a political divide."

And she said she didn't like his reference to Pocahontas.

“There's not a place for that," Littlefield said.

But overall, she said, she was pleased to see Trump voice opposition to the legislation.

"A government agency can't circumvent a law or a ruling to benefit a special interest group, especially a foreign Malaysia-based casino group," she said, referring to Genting, the tribe's financial backer on the casino project.

"We're thrilled that it was pulled from the floor and glad that President Trump agrees with us on this issue."

A spokesperson for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe on Wednesday did not immediately return a request for comment.

Jordan Deschenes contributed to this report.

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